Saturday, February 14, 2009

Senate narrowly approves stimulus package

By a 60-38 margin, the U.S. Senate approved the $787 billion recovery package on Friday night, keeping to the schedule outlined by President Barack Obama that calls for him to sign it into law by Presidents Day on Monday.

The U.S. House of Representatives approved the bill earlier on Friday by a 246-183 vote, with no Republicans voting in favor of it. In the Senate vote, the same three Republicans who voted for the earlier version of the stimulus package-- Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine, and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania-- voted for the $787 billion measure.

The $787 billion stimulus bill includes about $120 billion for infrastructure-- new projects repairing bridges, roads, government buildings and more-- which is good news for the AEC industry.

The Congressional Budget Office has predicted that the plan will create between 1 million and 3 million jobs.